North Vancouver man admits to saying 'stupid s---' after being charged with uttering death threats online

Dillon Blunk, the younger brother of Jonathan Blunk, hugs Chantel Blunk, Jonathan's wife, at Jonathan's funeral in Reno, Nev. Blunk was one of the victims in the massacre at a Colorado theatre July 23, 2012. On Aug. 8, 2012, a North Vancouver man was in court to answer to charges that he posted comments on Facebook that supported the shootings.

Photograph by: RJ Sangosti
, AP

When Mounties came knocking on his door one day last week and began asking probing questions about his Facebook account, North Vancouver man Ryan Lewis says he wasn’t overly surprised to see them.

The week before, the 32-year-old baker, known by friends to have a hot temper, fired off a series of posts on his Facebook page about doing “something stupid” to people “out there I encounter” as a means, he says, of blowing off some stress.

Shortly after, he realized he had gone too far and “kind of expected something” to happen. That something came Aug. 1, when North Vancouver Mounties seized his computer and arrested him for uttering death threats related to the posts.

Some of the posts, Mounties said, expressed support for the recent shooting in Colorado at a midnight showing of the Dark Night Rises, and spoke in detail of committing crimes similar in nature to the massacre, which left 12 dead and 58 injured.

But in an exclusive interview with The Province on Wednesday, the day of his first court appearance, Lewis says he had no intention of acting out the posts, which he declined to elaborate on beyond the “something stupid” to “people out there” comment.

He did, however, admit that he went “overboard” in his rant, which prompted several of his friends to tell him to “chill out,” he said.

“I think it (the charges) are fair ­­— I was being stupid,” he said, adding he has not even seen the new Batman movie. “I get pretty fiery sometimes but I’ve never attacked anyone ... I’m pretty embarrassed. I said some pretty stupid s---. ”

Police said that is a bit of an understatement. North Vancouver RCMP Cpl. Richard De Jong read the posts, which were not directed at any specific individual, and described them as “very graphic” and “very specific.”

He said online comments and posting are not private and, for public safety reasons, are taken very seriously, which is why police acted quickly to locate and arrest the suspect at his residence in the Lower Lonsdale area of North Vancouver.

“There was significant reference to Colorado and being in support of it, so they (the posts) are serious,” said De Jong. “The courts will decide how serious he was.”

Since the July 20 shooting spree in Aurora Colo., there have been two high-profile incidents in the U.S. that may have been attempted copycats. Last weekend, an Ohio man was arrested for bringing a bag of guns and knives to a showing of the film.

And just this week, police in New York subpoenaed Twitter to force the social media site to reveal the identity of a user responsible for several tweets — which referenced Aurora – that threatened to shoot up ex-boxer Mike Tyson’s one-man Broadway show.

As part of the conditions of his release, Lewis, who has no prior criminal record, is not allowed to be on the Internet, possess weapons or be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He must also abide by a curfew.

Police were not able to say if he was drinking or taking drugs during the alleged offence, which they were first notified of on July 24. They were also unable to say if they found weapons at his residence when they searched it.

Lewis is scheduled to be back in court Aug. 22. While he’s uncertain how he will plead, he said he’s already learned a lesson.

“Keep my mouth shut,” he said. “And Facebook is a bad place to say anything.”

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Dillon Blunk, the younger brother of Jonathan Blunk, hugs Chantel Blunk, Jonathan's wife, at Jonathan's funeral in Reno, Nev. Blunk was one of the victims in the massacre at a Colorado theatre July 23, 2012. On Aug. 8, 2012, a North Vancouver man was in court to answer to charges that he posted comments on Facebook that supported the shootings.

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